Sugar reduced brownies, delicious and nutritious

January 10, 2025

Brownies are no longer just a dessert, but also a delicious and indulgent snack that can be enjoyed anytime, anywhere. They come in many different varieties, including peanut butter, mint, and more. The classic homemade brownie recipe consists of just a few main ingredients: butter, sugar, chocolate, cocoa, eggs, and flour. Let’s satisfy the growing demand for healthier indulging products with our delicious and nutritious fiber rich and sugar reduced brownies. It’s time to enjoy the best of both worlds.

Consumer insights

Consumers worldwide are prioritizing health and wellness in their food and beverage choices, recent Sensus consumer studies reveal that:

US consumers

52% actively seek sugar-reduced products while shopping.
35% plan to reduce sugar intake in the coming years.

European consumers

1 in 2 consumers is conscious of sugar intake during grocery shopping.
42% plan to reduce sugar intake in the coming years.

This underscores the need for innovative solutions to create healthier, sugarreduced foods without compromising taste.

Cutting down sugars in brownies with chicory root fiber

Brownies are renowned for their distinctive chewy-tender texture and rich chocolate flavor. The classic brownie recipe has been updated by replacing part of the traditional sucrose with Sensus chicory root fiber, specifically Frutalose® oligofructose. This results in 30% less sugar while maintaining product quality.

Chewy-tender texture with great taste
Sucrose contributes to volume, texture, taste, and sweetness in brownies. Like sucrose, Frutalose® also provides bulk and has a clean, sucrose-like taste while providing only half of the calories and up to half of the sweetness of sucrose. In the Sensus sugar reduced brownie recipe, Frutalose® enables to maintain the distinctive chewy-tender brownie texture with great taste.

Eliminate cocoa powder
The 4% cocoa powder needed in the classic brownie recipe for a full chocolate taste is fully removed in the Sensus sugar reduced brownie. Cocoa and dark chocolate have a rich and intense flavor but can be bitter. In the classic brownie, sugar balances out some of this bitterness. Substituting part of sucrose with Frutalose® opens up the opportunity to eliminate all cocoa powder to obtain a well-balanced taste profile.

Easy processing
Frutalose® oligofructose is an exceptional ingredient. On top of benefits touched above, it can replace sucrose without adjustment to the production process, and with minimum impact on batter viscosity.

Nutritional benefits of Sensus chicory root fiber

Sensus Frutalose® oligofructose used for sucrose replacement in the Sensus brownie recipe, results in an improved nutrient profile by bringing in additional dietary fiber while taking out 30% of the sugars; a strategic move maintaining a good level of sweetness without compromising health-conscious goals. The reinvented brownies make it possible for consumers to get best of both worlds and indulge in a unique, mouth-watering sugar-conscious delight.